Washington, DC (Aug. 12, 2013) – New York attorney Rick Jones was sworn in as Secretary of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the Association’s 56th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, on July 27. Jones previously served two terms on NACDL’s Board of Directors and one year as Parliamentarian.
Jones currently practices criminal defense in New York City, where he is the Executive Director and a founding member of the Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS) of Harlem. Since its founding more than twenty years ago, NDS has gained national and international recognition for its community-based approach to public defense. NDS takes an all-encompassing approach to its representation and attempts to address issues in ways that will help the client and her family progress and avoid future problems. Jones teaches the criminal defense externship at Columbia Law School as well as a trial practice course. He also serves on the faculty of the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia.
In addition to his many years of service to NACDL, during his two terms on the Association’s Board of Directors, Jones has also co-chaired NACDL’s Indigent Defense committee and the Task Force on Problem-Solving Courts. He currently serves as co-chair of the Task Force on the Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction. Jones sits on the boards of the New York State Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Executive Committee, the New York State Defenders Association, and the Sirius Foundation. Jones has been engaged with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Community Oriented Defender Network and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the Amsterdam News.
Jones completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan and earned his law degree at the Rutgers University School of Law.
Contacts
Ivan Dominguez, NACDL Senior Director of Public Affairs and Communications, (202) 465-7662 or idominguez@nacdl.org
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal justice system.